Vikki King, Blacksburg, VAMember Since July 2009Artist Statement Just months after I graduated from the Massachusetts College of Art I was in a near fatal skydiving accident that left me disabled. The limiting experiences of disability and it's resulting poverty inform my work. They have lead me to see how people become marginalized, and how marginalized people are treated within our social systems.

I want to make noticed people like me, who are often overlooked. I want to strip people of their stereotypes and reveal them as people. Take for example homeless Vietnam veterans. We think we know what "they" look like, but to know an individual vet is to know something else. It is to see a unique picture.

When looking at my work, my choice of media is not immediately apparent. I work with marker and/or color pencil

I think pf my work as "Paintings Without Paint". I do this because I draw my inspiration from and study the works and techniques of such disparate painters as Rembrant, Goya, Degas and van Gogh.

I want to make paintings that touch people. I want people to look past what they know, what is safe and familiar, into the life of someone else.